Someone Like You
by Explosion-Of-Colour
Summary: Set after the events in Who's You Daddy?, House just won't let it go... HouseCuddy
1. Chapter 1

_This has been rolling around in my head for about three months now, so I've got a good few chapters written! _**  
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**Someone Like You**

Summer was always Lisa Cuddy's favourite season. When she was a child, it was because summer meant the end of her school year, the beginning of whatever summer camp her parents had decided on that year. Not that she wasn't grateful. Had she been given the choice she would have undoubtedly chosen to spend the majority of her vacation away from home rather than with a variety of babysitters whilst her parents worked constantly. As an adult, it was more to do with the sunny hours during the longer days feeding her patience with certain doctors at the hospital. During the summer months she was just more inclined to leave her work behind and actually arrive home before the sun set - although not by much most nights.

Thankfully that night she'd managed to get home with enough time to set out on an early twilight jog, smiling at the assortment of neighbours she knew by faces rather than names. She wasn't home enough to know any names, much less have actually conversed with them, with the exception of her next door neighbour, who she only knew because of an emergency and only then because her son heard there was a doctor living next door.

Finally she crawled into bed around midnight, silently cursing her workaholic tendencies for her lack of social life, and was asleep in minutes.

Only a few hours passed until she was roused from sleep by the unusual humming sound of a motorbike engine. Unusual in itself in her neighbourhood, Cuddy couldn't train her mind to let the sound go in order to return to sleep. The engine was killed by what sounded like close proximity, piquing the interest of her traitorous mind. Sighing, she slipped out of bed, grasping her robe from the back of the bedroom door as she made her way to the front of the house. Halfway there, a loud knock sounded at her door, continuing without pause. Glancing at the clock, she saw it to be just after ten to three. There was only one person who owned a motorbike and would decide to turn up without warning at some ridiculous hour of the morning. Swinging the front door open as her irritation mounted, she was met with the sight of House's lean figure resting casually on his cane with both hands.

"Shouldn't open the door without checking who it is first, Cuddy. Never know who might come a-knockin'," he warned, inviting himself into the hallway.

"I'll keep that in mind, along with being surprised when said person appears without explanation and then talks me to death. What do you want, House?"

"A booty call?" he offered casually, his startling blue eyes studying her for her reaction. "But only if you promise to let me cuddle this time."

Cuddy narrowed her eyes at his characteristic attempt to bait her; curious as to why he'd decided to annoy her so late in the evening. "I'm sure you realise that I - like most people - actually prefer to sleep during the night, so if you are here to play games then postpone them to daylight hours. Goodnight."

He didn't move, not that she'd really expected him to, instead studied her with the same expression she'd seen countless times when weighing up test results on a tricky diagnosis. "You did it on purpose."

"Did what on purpose, House? You do realise it's three in the morning, right?" Cuddy sighed, already dreading what this little visit would do to her work-day - one that started in mere hours.

"This afternoon in my office - you did that deliberately."

Cuddy hadn't the energy or the inclination to decide if House was deliberately being obtuse or if he was genuinely asking her something he evidently couldn't wait until morning to find out - either way it was far to late at night. Giving him her best exasperated stare, she placed her hands on her hips and responded; "I have exactly two and a half hours before I have to get up again and deal with whatever lunacy you decide to throw at me today. I'm going back to bed."

"As seductions go, that was pretty lacking, Lisa." The imposing figure standing over her retorted condescendingly, his bright blue eyes sweeping over her silken robe overtly, before finally settling on her chest. "But hey, I always knew the cane turned you on."

"Yes, _Greg_, I'm desperately trying to get you into bed with me. How about we get to it right here?" Gesturing to the couch a few feet away, she stepped into his personal space, tilting her head backwards and speaking softly as though he'd be more inclined to listen; "You want to just skip the foreplay and get right to it?"

House actually stood looking slightly stunned for a minute, before his usual bemused expression returned, along with a knowing smirk. "Is this what I get for keeping a secret, or is it an extension to getting to see your butt twice a day?" He feigned needing to think for a minute. "No, never mind, it's not that important to me after all."

Smiling sweetly, Cuddy feigned moving in to kiss him, instead breathing against his mouth, "If I wanted to seduce you, you'd know about it." Promptly she backed away, grinning at her victory in their incessant games.

Feeling his eyes on her back as she moved back to her bedroom she heard House mutter; "Everybody lies."

--H&C--

Morning came too soon for Lisa, as she'd gotten back into bed and immediately wondered whether the games she and House had been playing lately were becoming a little too personal in their content. Damn the man for being so infuriatingly attractive. She wasn't sure when he'd progressed from a professional nightmare to someone who she enjoyed seeing everyday, even if it was just to banter with - or more often than not argue over professional ethics with. Somehow the image of introducing him to her parents kept appearing in her head, and it both amused and terrified her. How on Earth had this happened? The man was a brilliant, smart-assed, self-centred, son-of-a-bitch, and in no way would ever think of her as anyone other than the woman who stood between him and his sometimes wacky practice of medicine. But there was just something about the thought of House meeting her mother that made her smile, imagining their immediate and inevitable face-off from the second they were introduced.

Practically stumbling from her room, she made her way to the kitchen in search of caffeine, pulling a hand through her mass of tangled curls. As she reached the doorway, she had to stand and stare for a good two minutes before she believed she wasn't hallucinating.

There, standing by the sink in the blue shirt and pants he'd been wearing the night before, was Greg House, sipping from a cup as he looked out on the garden. Frowning, she cleared her throat to announce her presence, folding her arms across her chest as his he turned his brilliant blue eyes on her.

"Nice," he grinned, lecherously scanning her figure in the hip-hugging pink nightdress.

Refusing to let him win by going to retrieve her robe, Cuddy grasped a mug from the tree-stand on the countertop and poured herself a coffee from the nearly full pot already there. Sipping cautiously, she scanned the room and found he'd slung his jacket over one of the kitchen stools, his cane hooked over the towel rail. "Made yourself at home, I see?"

House swept his eyes back to her face, not a trace of guilt in his features as he stared at her, amused. "Permission from the boss."

"I don't remember inviting you to stay, House." She made a face as the taste of the beverage she'd been sipping finally registered. "My God, you call this coffee?"

"Is it my fault you abandon your guest to fend for himself? I had to figure out the coffee machine all by myself - its just not good manners, Cuddy. Your mother never teach you that?" He moved close to her, reaching for the pot behind her and brushing her bare arm as he manouvered around her.

Trying to ignore the flash of sensation at the accidental touch, Cuddy moved aside to let him work. She nearly jumped when his large hand grasped her wrist to stop her movement, her eyes flicking to his. Belatedly she realised he was steadying her hand so he could dump a large teaspoon of sugar into her mug, even stirring it for her. His eyes stayed on her once he released her wrist, but she kept her own firmly on the cup she held tightly in both hands, sipping the now-sweet liquid slowly. House stood next to her, taking his time refilling his own coffee and glancing inquisitively at her every few seconds.

"So why did you come here in the middle of the night? Trouble sleeping?" She ventured with a slight smile, glad to have found something to break the silence.

His hand stopped stirring the second sugar into his coffee as he looked up to meet her eyes. "Like I said, you did that yesterday to bug me."

"When I thanked you for helping me?" Cuddy asked incredulously. "I didn't realise gratitude was so unappealing to you. It was just uncharacteristically nice of you to keep that to yourself, so I -"

He shook his head, then levelled her with his intense azure gaze; "There was something else. And you deliberately didn't tell me."

"House, are you seriously telling me you turned up in the dead of night so you could find out what you _think_ I _didn't_ say? If there was any doubt before of your insanity then I think it's safe to say we have proof now." She frowned at him, fighting off an amused smile at his cheerful uncaring smirk.

"Can't be hospital stuff… or clinic stuff… so it must personal." He tilted his head to one side and narrowed his eyes accusingly; "You're not dating Wilson after all, are you?"

Cuddy hid a grin by sipping her cooling coffee, refusing to encourage him by showing her amusement. Long ago she'd admitted to herself that she enjoyed his unique brand of sarcastic humour, usually used at the most inappropriate of times, in front of patients or donors in order to cause her maximum embarrassment. "You don't think Wilson would tell you if he was dating someone?"

Ignoring her somewhat rhetorical question, he continued; "So it doesn't involve illicit love affairs with my bestest pal. Does it -"

"I'm not standing here all day while you work out a differential diagnosis on my visit to your office yesterday. Has it occurred to you that if there was something I didn't say, that there was a reason I didn't say it?"

Cuddy stared at him, awaiting a glib House-like retort. When none came, she set her partially full coffee cup down on the surface behind her, brushing past House on her way back to her bedroom. "See you at work, House. Try to be in before lunch today."

She felt his eyes follow her path out of the kitchen and across her dining room, knowing he was still stood by the coffee-maker, the counter easing a lot of the weight from his bad leg in place of his cane. As she dressed, her mind idly wondered if she'd find the brilliant-if-suspected-insane doctor still frequenting her home when she emerged, but the thought was solved when she heard the familiar rumble of his motorcycle start up and then fade into the distance. Picking her favourite pair of shoes from their place in the corner of her brightly-lit bedroom, Lisa grabbed her keys and hurried through to the kitchen before deciding to have something to eat from the staff room when she got to the hospital instead.

It wasn't until she was nearly at the front door that she spotted the note taped to the back of it, the familiar black-inked handwriting of her early morning guest catching her eye.

'_Your office, 10AM to continue the fun we started yesterday. Don't be late,_

_G_

Cuddy smiled, pulling the paper from the door as she tried to work out if she was more surprised at his promise to be in before ten in the morning or at the warm feeling she felt at the thought he cared enough to help her out with choosing donors and administering the injections. Not that it mattered so much now, but until she told House of her decision to stop the IVF, she could at least allow herself the small – if inappropriate - feeling that she was cared for.

--H&C--


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: Title taken from the song 'Somebody Like You' by Keith Urban before I remembered the line in the episode. Couldn't quite believe the response I got to the first part, so thanks so much! Also lovely to have some Sparky shippers in this fandom too :D We must all have good taste in pairings :D 

Someone Like You

Chapter 2

Cuddy jumped at the loud bang as her office door was needlessly shoved open without warning, giving entrance to a rather cheerful Head of Diagnostics. Limping into the center of her large carpeted office, he stopped and placed his cane in front of him, both hands resting on the polished wood as he stared gamely at her unamused expression.

"Here I am, do with me what you will." House grinned, and then gestured to the busy bustle outside the office; "I said that we weren't to be disturbed."

Rolling her eyes, Lisa continued her attempts to clear some of the vast mountains of paperwork that had appeared on her desk seemingly overnight, barely sparing him a glance. "I don't think the insinuations that you sleep with me on a regular basis actually amuse anyone, House. Least of all me - but then that'd be the point, right?"

"It's not an exercise in amusement, Cuddy. It's a cred thing."

"A 'cred' thing? Do I even want to know?"

"Well, everyone thinks I'm screwing the boss, and the boss blatantly wants me, so I'm merely filling in the blanks for the gossip mills. It's a cred thing." House explained matter-of-factly, as though it was obvious. The small, amused smile he kept solely for these occasions when he tormented her appeared then, the blaze of his blue eyes pinning her to her chair.

To her credit, Cuddy didn't let her disbelief show, though she silently prayed he was kidding as she met his taunting gaze. "I'll add 'delusional' to your growing list of qualities. Is there something specific you wanted, or are you just filling in time before your soap?"

"It's ten AM, you have an appointment with your doctor." He replied simply, frowning slightly at the unlikely event Cuddy had forgotten.

"You are not my doctor, House." She told him in no uncertain terms, although a small smile found its way to her lips as she folded her arms over her chest defensively. As she held his gaze, Cuddy watched as his eyes dipped briefly to her neckline, something he often seemed to do, and by no means tried to be subtle about it. Clearing her throat, she added; "And I don't need your help with the injections any more."

"If you're about to tell me you have some bright-eyed, barely-out-of-med-school idiot of a doctor taking my place... or is it that assistant of yours - the one with the inappropriate ties?" House mocked huffily, moving closer to her desk until he was towering over her seated form.

Cuddy shot him an exasperated stare that she didn't really feel, fighting to keep her face from showing any trace of amusement as she stood up to face him. "Wow, you dislike someone based on the fact they dress properly for work, there's a surprise," she replied sarcastically, moving around her desk with an arm full of files. "Again, thank you for helping me out yesterday, but you're off the hook. You can go back to pretending to see clinic patients now."

House studied her with a curious expression on his face, silently considering what he'd just heard. "You've stopped the IVF treatments."

In all her life, Lisa had never met any who could be so astute so much of the time. When she'd first met him, that quality had entranced her; this lanky, nice-looking twenty-something who could merely glance at you and hazard a fair guess at what you were thinking. That perceptiveness hadn't faded over the years, if anything it had sharpened, and yet sometimes it would still surprise her, even after nine years working together.

"Yes." She replied, placing each folder back in its place on her bookcase, glad of the excuse to keep her back to him for fear of giving away to much.

"That's what you came to tell me yesterday." House deduced softly, his tone taking on that rare caring note that most thought he was incapable of. "Or maybe _why_ you'd changed your mind."

Lisa turned, crossing her arms over her chest and meeting his deductive eyes in an attempt to stare him down, her expression a clear warning. She was fairly sure that he had already worked out one of her reasons for her change of heart and was afraid he'd figure out the other. "Leave it alone, House."

"Was it that half-wit donor I tracked down yesterday that put you off?" He added an overzealous shudder to the question, but something in his eyes gave away the seriousness in which he meant it. "Would've put me off."

Cuddy smiled genuinely for the first time all morning, finally seeing the funny side to that little debacle with her would-be sperm donor. "No, just something you said." As soon as the words left her mouth she was rolling her eyes in exasperation at her slip of the tongue, mentally cursing the diagnostician for preventing the sleep that allowed her to deal with him on a daily basis. Turning away from his suddenly too-piercing gaze, she sighed and added quietly; "I thought I'd wait a little longer, that's all."

House nodded, continuing to stare at the back of her head; studying the silver clasp that held her mass of darks curls clipped back from her face, until she chanced another glance at him, meeting his eyes once more. Cuddy wasn't sure if there was a look of understanding that flashed across his face or whether she was just over thinking it, but she felt the now-familiar feeling of attraction bloom in her stomach again as he stared at her like that, brilliant azure eyes analyzing her face intently. For what, she couldn't even guess.

Minutes passed, until suddenly he turned, limping out of her office without another word, as Cuddy watched him leave, unsure as to what had just transpired.

--H&C--

Most days Cuddy found herself leaving the hospital at eight or even nine in the evening, but she'd spent so much of her afternoon fighting a loosing battle to focus that she left just after six on this particular occasion, much to the surprise of the nurses stationed just outside her office. Whether her inability to concentrate was from the morning's run-in with House, or from lack of sleep, she wasn't sure. Either way, she'd decided, she had House to blame for an afternoon of lost work.

The welcome smell of Chinese food filled her car as she turned into her quiet street, reminding her how little she'd had to eat all day. Just as she was promising herself a long soak in a nice, hot bath after she'd eaten, Lisa spotted the unmistakable luminous orange of a motorcycle parked proudly in her driveway. Torn between anger at the prospect of her leisurely evening being ruined and reluctant amusement at the impertinence of him, she pulled her blue Jaguar in beside the unmissable bike, scanning the front garden for any signs of its owner. Gathering her things from the passenger seat - mostly a large bag of Chinese takeout that she knew she'd hate herself for in the morning, she exited the car and began rummaging in her purse for her house keys.

"You're home early," came a deep voice by her shoulder, startling her into nearly dropping everything she was carrying.

Conjuring her most deadly glare, she shot him an exasperated look over her shoulder and then ignored him to continue the hunt for her elusive key-chain.

"It's not my fault you're all jittery on caffeine," House muttered indignantly, easily personifying a six-foot-something six-year-old.

"It's your fault I _need_ so much caffeine." Cuddy snapped back, her tiredness dampening her usual flare for sparring with the troublesome doctor, especially when his close proximity was causing the smell of his leather jacket to intoxicate her senses.

"My, my, Lisa. If the neighbors are listening what will they think?"

Narrowing her eyes at his remark, she managed to juggle the bags she held enough to place the key in the door lock, wishing she had an extra hand to slap the smirk from his face as he watched her struggle in amusement. "You are a pain in the ass, House."

His eyes brightened as he grinned, prompting Lisa to turn back to the door before she acknowledged how attractive he looked when he did that. "Yes, but sweetheart, I'm _your_ pain in the ass." The sickly sweet, designed-to-annoy tone of his voice cued her to look back over her shoulder at him in time to see him glance sideways at the next-door garden.

It was only at that point that she noticed her elderly neighbor out on her front patio, smiling in none other than her antagonizing guest's direction. "House," she began in a hushed voice, hating that she had to tilt her head back to look him in the eye despite the added height of her heels. "_Please_ tell me you haven't been chatting to my neighbor?"

"Who, Mary?" He turned to give the woman a wave and a smile as though he'd known her for years, before continuing; "She wanted to know who – and I quote - 'Lisa's nice new man' was."

"Marilyn." Cuddy corrected under her breath, pushing open the front door finally and all but shoving House inside.

"I told her not to be too worried by the loud noises during the night – explained how insatiable you are in the nighttime hours."

Whirling around so fast House nearly tripped over her, Lisa glared at him with a shocked expression; "You did not-"

Rolling his eyes, he bent his head so he was eye level with her. "Oh relax, I was assuring her how simple a hip replacement surgery is. Well so long as the surgeon isn't too juiced to tell an arm from a leg – but that almost never happens."

His condescending tone was not lost on her, but she was too hungry to further delay her dinner, dropping the bags on the dining room table and heading into the kitchen in search of something to drink. On her return, she found House had shed his leather jacket, and was pawing through the take-out bag, setting out each box on the table until he found something he liked the look of. She placed a glass of orange juice in front of him, sipping from her own glass as she watched him expectantly, hoping whatever it was he wanted this time would be short and sweet.

"You got plates for this little feast?"

"You're inviting yourself to my dinner now?"

"Think of it as a favor. I eat half of this and you won't feel half as guilty in the morning." House offered graciously, raising the colourful glass of juice to his lips.

Too tired and hungry to argue further, she retrieved two plates and set them down in front of her uninvited guest, content to let him dish the food out. He handed her one of the now-full plates, pinning her with another of his intense, blue-eyed stares before she backed down, turning towards the living room. Those wordless stares would be her undoing, she knew. While he had the unique ability to understand how her mind worked, she had absolutely no idea what he was thinking most of the time - not on any deeper level than game-boys and Angelina Jolie, at least.

Abandoning the pointless struggle to work the impossible man out, she sank into the large, deep cushions of her sofa, feeling her aching body respond to something other than the uncomfortable office chairs it was subjected to all day, everyday. House followed a minute later, immediately commandeering the plush armchair opposite her as his own. Setting his cane against the wall next to the chair, he went for the remote on the coffee table without asking, flicking the large television on with a delighted smile as he found a channel he liked. Fighting the growing realization that her loneliness had reached a level where she was actually thankful for House's intrusion if only for the company, she kept her eyes firmly on the soap-like teen drama unfolding on screen as she ate.

"What is this?" she asked quietly as she set her dish aside, beginning to feel sleepy from the effects of a full stomach.

He turned to her, feet up on her coffee table as he placed his cleared plate on the floor and dug into his shirt pocket for his pill bottle. "One Tree Hill. It's got basketball and cheerleaders, that's all you need to know."

Cuddy laughed, slipping her shoes off and curling her long legs underneath her. "Isn't there an age limit on lusting after girls with pompoms that you've surpassed by decades?"

"I like to go against the grain, makes life more interesting." He responded quickly, as though it should be something she'd never noticed about him before. His eyes moved from the screen back to her own as his pleased-with himself smirk returned full force. "Would this be a good time to mention a certain outfit in the back of your closet?"

Her gaze shot from the television to his thoroughly smug face, trying to decide if he was bluffing or about to admit to yet further invasion of her privacy.

House's eyes wandered over her with a leering smile. "I honestly don't know which image I prefer more – you in the cheerleader get-up or that wonderful little tennis outfit... oh and then there's those handcuffs you keep in your desk for special occasions..."

"For the last time, House, I do not have-" Sighing in exaggerated exasperation, Cuddy placed her chin her hand as she awaited his latest taunt.

"So... was it a secret boyfriend with a fetish? You always struck me as the naughty schoolgirl type-"

"Now that you're done eating, I can throw you out on your ass." Cuddy interrupted as she stood, picking up her discarded plate and bending to retrieve his before belatedly realizing he was taking advantage of his position by looking down her low-necked top. Refusing to voice her annoyance, she left him to watch the end of his beloved show, taking the dishes to the kitchen as she toyed with the idea of opening a bottle of wine. She was beginning to seriously wonder if she was losing her mind – could she really be feeling something for Greg House? If she rationalized it she could make the argument that she was drawn to his intelligence, to his ability to work out the most obscure of medical cases that crossed his desk. But if she was honest with herself, his humour, his inability to go a day without some form of sexual reference about her was as flattering as it was embarrassing, and the man did have a unique talent for knowing how best to aggravate her.

Cuddy shook her head, opening the door to the small larder where she kept a few bottles of wine as she decided that yes, she was most definitely losing her mind.


End file.
